The Second World Collision
The Nectar Well, which had been greedily devouring divine power, soon fell silent on its own.
This time, the divinity it had consumed did not return.
Granting Intelligence to the Nectar Well has failed. It appears more divinity must be invested.
No good, huh.
“Of course not. Granting intelligence to a fragment of a god is hardly a simple task.”
I’d only thought that if it gained intelligence, it would become a living creature and could then evolve into something that produced nectar even more efficiently.
“Then you should raise your Faith stat. Though, setting aside the question of how you’re supposed to gather any Faith when you don’t have a single intelligent being to worship you… I must say, it’s impressive that you’re evolving life forms with zero Faith.”
That’s because I’m not touching the fundamental functions of living organisms. I’m only creating viable organs and evolving them efficiently.
The base divine power is already quite high, and evolution itself doesn’t consume that much Faith… Plus I picked the related traits.
The World Collision will begin shortly. Only the surviving players will advance to the next round.
It’s already time?
“Indeed. To be honest, I predict an easy victory. The current average score after the first collision is around 1,100 points, since half the players were eliminated.”
Roughly double the average. Barring any major surprises, I shouldn’t lose.
The angel added, “In truth, Player Biin, your world is not the strongest in existence.”
“No?”
“Correct. The world with the highest military power has over 1,400 points in that category alone. There are even worlds with total scores exceeding 2,800.”
That’s interesting in its own way. How on earth do you run a world to get numbers like that?
“However, those players are also engaging in ‘abnormal play’ just like you. Among the billion-plus players gathered from across the universe, such bizarre individuals are bound to exist.
But I can guarantee you this: no world can defeat yours in a one-on-one collision. At best, they might manage to ‘not lose.’ That would be their ceiling.”
“In short, I absolutely cannot lose right now?”
“Yes. No world in this game can single-handedly drive out the life forms of this Dessert Desert. I am certain of it.”
That makes sense.
Still, while I poured everything into a single category called Life, other factions would be gaining explosive growth through synergy across multiple fields. No matter how much I cling to Life, there’s a limit. To win, I’d need to find other means.
In other words, a total of 2,800 points was something to keep an eye on. What kind of monster could that be…? Even by simple math, that meant an average of over 350 points per category. I used to think 400 in military was already impressive, yet here was something with 350 in military and 350 in everything else…
Or perhaps a monster with 1,400 military power. A horrifying combat force capable of completely smashing my ecosystem through sheer brute strength.
It was unfortunate that I couldn’t learn about the opponent’s world in advance, but that was a problem I could consider after winning the next match and looking at the trait cards I’d receive.
∞
This was hopeless. Teimong, the queen who had once ruled the otherworld kingdom of Meiya, thought so.
As a queen, she had been a benevolent ruler. During her reign the nation grew prosperous, commanded the entire world, and every citizen lived happily.
That was why, when her aging body was nearing its end and an angel appeared asking if she wanted to become a ‘god,’ she naturally accepted. She believed her abilities would allow her to become a god without issue.
Where she had miscalculated was assuming that if she was the greatest benevolent ruler in her world, her opponent would naturally be the same in theirs.
During the preparation period, she had evenly developed Mystery, Faith, Culture, and Military. Her first tribe of fewer than two hundred people encountered a nation that had developed in almost exactly the same way.
Teimong’s tribe had weak physical abilities but excelled in Mystery.
Her opponent’s tribe possessed overwhelming physical prowess but virtually no Mystery ability at all.
A desperate, bloody battle ensued. In the end, Teimong emerged victorious. She had accumulated achievements in domestic affairs and also possessed the experience of a commander who had personally led troops to victory in war. However, her tribe’s population, which had once exceeded 130, was cut in half, and both nations’ territories were left devastated.
Fortunately, the fight had ended quickly, leaving plenty of the protection period intact. Teimong used it to rebuild her population and expand her military and various other infrastructures. Even so, her score was unfortunately below average.
With the average sitting at 1,100, she was just a little short. And an average of 1,100 meant that some players would fall below it while others would be far ahead.
Perhaps everyone was still clustered around that number, but Teimong’s greatest weakness right now was population. Her politics and faith were stable, giving her perfect control, and her military was bolstered by strong Mystery, but every single death was devastating. Her population hadn’t even reached level 2. On top of that, her industry and technology were even more pathetic.
The only option was to request cooperation. There was an Alliance function in addition to Surrender. She would grow stably through an alliance first.
If they refused, she didn’t like inhumane methods, but… she had to win the next battle no matter what. Then she would enslave the opposing race.
She would use the slaves to secure industry, technology, and population, then gradually free them later.
That was her only path right now. Praying that her opponent would respond favorably, Teimong dispatched talented envoys to the other world.
It was a loss to risk losing even one capable individual, but reconnaissance had to come first…
And the moment Teimong saw the opponent’s world, she nearly wet herself. If she still had a physical body, she definitely would have.
“H-hiiiiiiiiiik?!”
Jelly. Jelly. Nothing but jelly.
“Huh? What is this? There are races like that too? I mean, they gathered beings from every dimension, but I at least expected something similar to my own species.”
Since Teimong herself was roughly humanoid, this was utterly bizarre. And despite her order to the scout to handle things as they saw fit, jelly creatures began pouring into her own world as well.
“F-for now, stop those jellies!”
Their official name was Meat-Eating Pudding. They were not jelly.
Unfortunately, the Meat-Eating Puddings were horrifically weak.
The superior Mystery possessed by Teimong could turn the puddings into powder with nothing more than long-range magic projectiles.
“Thank goodness. The opponent isn’t that strong after all…”
But the moment she learned that the river—the lifeblood and core that sustained her world, a strange serpent-like river that crossed the entire world only to loop back to its starting point—had become completely clogged with jelly in just a few days, and that the fertile floodplain farmlands were beginning to be buried in sand, the ‘passage’ between worlds hadn’t even fully opened yet.
Everything went dark before Teimong’s eyes.
∞
The opposing player ‘Teimong’ is requesting Surrender.
The opposing player ‘Teimong’ is requesting Surrender.
The opposing player ‘Teimong’ is requesting Surrender.
The opposing player ‘Teimong’ is requesting Surrender.
The opposing player ‘Teimong’ is requesting Surrender.
I should block her. Just how many times is she spamming the surrender button?
“If we’re being precise, she’s basically screaming ‘I surrender’ over and over.”
Player ‘Teimong’ has been blocked.
Teimong’s world didn’t even last a year. In truth, there was no need to wait until harvest season.
After dropping a few hundred carnivorous puddings, the opponent’s low-population world quickly ran out of combat strength and was forced to play a survival game against the puddings.
You have won the World Collision against Player ‘Teimong’.
Your world is expanding.
The two worlds fused together. Strangely, the opponent’s world had a river whose beginning and end were indistinguishable. If that was the case, what principle made the water flow at all?
By exercising divinity, I could slightly edit the terrain of my world. I skillfully manipulated that bizarre river so that its water flowed into the Oswald Oasis.
This created a strange structure where the water left the oasis, circled around, and returned to it. My world doubled in size, and its surface area reached roughly forty square kilometers.
It was still just desert facing me. Forty square kilometers was honestly still too small for a desert. Still, the other side seemed to have done some cultivation, so it felt more like grassland than desert.
“A clean victory,” the angel said.
“The opponent was weak.”
“That’s true too. It seems they suffered quite a bit in the previous battle. If Player Teimong had managed to force a surrender and preserve her forces, perhaps…”
Perhaps?
“She might have been able to deal some meaningful damage to your world.”
True. But reality was that she had been crushed.
The first victory was skill. The second could be called lucky, but I would have won even if my luck had been slightly worse.
In that case, there was no need to talk about good or bad luck.
The next opponent might surpass even me, or their world might perfectly counter my ecosystem. If so, it was simply fate, and I would accept it.
Anyway, I was about to ask for the victory reward trait when the angel said something unexpected.
“Player Biin. Since you have achieved your second victory, there is an announcement I must make.”
Hm?
“From now on, the exchange function with other players has been unlocked.”
“Exchange function?”
“Yes. Simply put, winning twice in a game where half the players are eliminated each round means you are in the top 25%. The chaff has been filtered out, so you now have the qualification to interact with other players.”
Calling them chaff is a bit harsh.
“Even if it’s exchange… aren’t we ultimately fighting until only one remains? What exactly does exchange mean here?”
“Since you’ve experienced it in the form of a game, think of it as community activity. Simply put, since you can never meet the vast majority of players anyway, you can simply build personal connections.
Alternatively, you can form alliances in advance and agree to collide with certain worlds during the next World Collision, or you can attack players you dislike or those who possess desirable territory.”
Team play. Or, to put it more maliciously, teaming.
Neither option particularly appealed to me. More importantly, why should I have to converse with filthy intelligent beings?
“If that doesn’t interest you, you can also share or trade creations produced in each other’s worlds—technology, culture, life forms, and so on. It’s not simple sharing; it takes the form of sales.”
“What do we use as currency for sales?”
“‘Points.’ You don’t actually spend your score. At the end of each collision, currency equal to your ‘score’ is generated. Literally [Points]. In other words, the higher your total score, the more you can buy. Even if your total score is low, if you possess excellent technology or creations, you can sell them for greater profit.”
“What about unused points?”
“They carry over to the next game.”
“What else can points be used for? For example, can I buy new traits or resources my world lacks from a neutral shop?”
“Purchasing traits is impossible. Resources and creations can only be obtained by trading or purchasing from other players. Materials are exchanged through dimensional gates that open between worlds.”
“If it’s a currency that can only be used for exchange, wouldn’t it be completely useless and no one would trade in the first place?”
“Ah. Of course there are other functions. Having many points is advantageous when you are eliminated after the third round. Would you like a detailed explanation?”
No, that’s fine. It was probably something like preventing soul annihilation.
Anyway, with that kind of mechanism, wasn’t participation essentially mandatory?
In other words, even if unused points carried over, the concept of ‘saving’ was impossible. The structure caused scores to skyrocket every game.
Mine had been 568 in the first collision but jumped to 1,960 in the second. The inflation was severe. That meant if you couldn’t spend the currency received in one round before the next collision, it would lose its value.
Considering you might not even survive the next game, the system was structured to encourage expanding exchanges between players.
And according to the principles of commerce and trade, the side that engaged in more exchange would inevitably grow stronger.
“It is exactly as you thought. This system was designed to force interaction between players.”
How disappointing. It’s rather harsh on single-player types.
“I did suspect you might be severely socially anxious. If you had accepted the opponent’s surrender, you could have engaged in exchange and trade instead.”
“Hmm.”
“However, do not worry. There are other ways to use your points.”
That was good to hear. Though I doubted the method would be anything I’d look forward to.
You have acquired a new World Trait.
I’d think about it after receiving this first. After all, I had to create my world.
“Here. I have selected the three traits that would be most helpful for your ‘civilization,’ Player Biin.”
Persistent, isn’t she.
Excellent Dexterity: Creations become skilled at crafting tools. Advantageous for Industry development.
Fairy Transformation: Turns terrain, structures, low-intelligence life forms, or entities possessing Mystery within the world into immortal fairies. Fairies are intelligent beings that devote themselves absolutely to the player’s world, civilization, and creations.
High Intelligence: Dramatically increases the intelligence of creations. High-intelligence races are advantageous for Politics and Technology development.
She was really pushing me to build a civilization. Out of this trash, which one should I…
Wait. One of these descriptions is strange.
It said it could also be applied to ‘terrain,’ ‘structures,’ and ‘entities possessing Mystery’?
“I’ll take Fairy Transformation.”
“Hmm. So you wish to create fairies of rivers, lakes, coral reefs… Ah. Aaaaaaaaah!”
Before the angel could finish her belated realization and scream, I drew the Fairy Transformation card and immediately activated its power.
Fairy Transformation applied to the Nectar Well.
Twitch—! Twitch—! Twitch—!
The Nectar Well—that fragment of a god—pulsed as an unholy intelligence that could never have existed in my ecosystem began to take root.